A/N:

I felt like doing a high school fic. For those that like dark themes and a little mystery, this is probably right up your alley.

Thanks to Brandy_D for beta-ing and Irish_Sidheseer, Belindella & AngelStardust for pre-reading/being general supporters of my work.

Warning: This fic contains vulgar language, substance abuse, sexual content, and other unfortunate behavior that might make you highly upset.

Perfect grades.

Perfect friends.

Perfect family.

Perfect girlfriend.

I had it all.

It was the second week back at school and everything was going well. I was finally a senior this year, and would be going to my dream Ivy League college, Yale University for Pre-Med. Well, I didn't know for sure, but Dad assured me I was a shoe in with my top notch grades, solid attendance, and extra curricular activities.

I pulled up to my usual spot in my brand new Volvo my parents had gotten me over the summer. The spot was conveniently located right against the pathway to the school doors. Even though my name wasn't on the parking spot, per se, everyone knew it was mine. Sometimes, I felt bad, but I figured that if no one was going to park there, then I would shamelessly continue to do so.

As I opened my door and stepped out, a loud horn blared, followed by a large vehicle nearly running me over in the space next to my car.

"Ed! Move or I'll squash you."

I walked out of the space and saw a mop of dark curly hair, which could only belong to my best friend, Emmett. He was smiling smugly at me from the driver's seat of his Jeep Wrangler with his window rolled down.

Adjusting my messenger bag, I walked over to him, and opened his car door. "One day, I really think you will run me over."

He smiled. "I plan on it."

As he fully vacated his Jeep, it was hard to miss how tall he was. I was already tall at six foot two, but Emmett was well over six foot four. He practically hovered over me.

He grabbed his bag, as well as a piece of paper, which he handed over to me. "Here's your essay back for AP Lit," he said.

I placed it into my bag, trying to be careful not to tear it or crinkle it. "Did you have any trouble stealing my ideas?" I teased.

He rolled his eyes. "Nope."

"Now, tell me. Did you even read Invisible Man?" I queried.

"Yes. I read Invisible Man…"

"Good," I said.

"…SparkNotes," he added.

"What?"

He chuckled. "Invisible Man SparkNotes. Four bucks at Barnes & Noble."

I snorted. "One day, Em, you're going to get caught, and I'll laugh."

He leaned against his Jeep. "Oh, please. If I've never been busted for not reading any books assigned, then I probably won't now. Besides, if people like me decided to read the books, then how will SparkNotes ever get business?"

His logic baffled me sometimes.

"Anyway, I have a major case of senioritis," Emmett said. "I don't feel like doing anything all year."

"That's ridiculous," I stated, aghast.

"We can't all be wonderful like you, Ed," he joked sarcastically.

I rolled my eyes and looked down at my watch, then frowned. The bell would be ringing soon. "Where's everyone?" I asked him.

He shrugged. "They're supposed to be riding with Rose today."

As if we had been heard, a bright red BMW M3 convertible suddenly pulled into the lot. Emmett and I practically skipped over to it.

"Ahhh, there's my girl," I cooed as my sweet girlfriend stepped out of the passenger side. Her curly, strawberry blonde hair was perfectly styled, framing her smooth, pale skin. She was always dressed to the hilt, her designer clothes probably cost more than the school paid for textbooks.

I shut the door for her and enveloped her in a big hug.

She sighed into my neck. "Eddie, I missed you."

"I missed you, too," I breathed, catching her lips in a soft, slow kiss.

A chorus of coughing sounded behind us, and we pulled apart to see our friends, Jasper, Rosalie, Emmett, and Alice smiling smugly at us.

"Tanya, can you please tell your boyfriend to not make out with you against my car?" Rose barked as she spun around, whipping her long blonde hair in the air.

I hadn't realized, but I had pressed Tanya up against the door.

"Sorry, Rose," Tanya said softly, blushing as she moved further away from me.

Tanya and I met in our freshman year and had been together ever since. A lot of people called us the "perfect couple" and I had to agree. We enjoyed each other's company and never fought once. Plus, my family absolutely adored her.

I grabbed her hand and took her messenger bag from her as we all made our way up the path towards the school.

Jasper walked up next to me, smiling. "Guess what we did last night," he whispered quietly to me.

"Who's we?" I questioned back in a whisper.

"Me and Alice," he said, as if I should've known already.

"Do I really want to know?"

"Come on, even though we're cousins, you're still my friend."

Jasper was probably the family member I was closest to. It probably helped that we both were in the same grade and went to school together, but we still had a lot of fun.

"Alright, fine. What did you two do?" I asked, but not really wanting to hear the answer.

"She let me touch her…you know," he mused triumphantly.

Jasper and Alice had only been dating for three weeks, so I was quite shocked that they had already gotten that far. I'd been with Tanya for three years and we still hadn't had sex…or even went passed second base. The most I'd ever done was grope her breasts while we made out on my bed, but even then, I asked permission beforehand.

It wasn't that we didn't want to have sex, because Lord knows, I definitely did, but we had agreed early on that we would wait till we went to college before taking each other's virginities and moving our relationship forward. I did hope, though, that in the near future, she'd let me do what Jasper did to Alice, at least.

I was just about to respond to Jasper, when a loud backfire and clattering of metal sounded throughout the parking lot. Everyone in the lot, as well as on the walkway, stopped what they were doing to acknowledge the beat up, red Chevy that just entered the parking lot.

"Oh, geez…always has to make a damn entrance," Rosalie huffed, and stalked off into the school with Emmett on her tail.

People began whispering as the Chevy's truck door jarred open. I continued to stare as if in a trance.

There, stepping absentmindedly out of the truck, was the reason everyone still hadn't made a move to the school, even though the bell had just rung.

She had dark hair, and always wore black jeans and a black tank that hugged the curves of her body. Her lips were blood red and her eyes dawned her trademark dark blue eye shadow.

She grabbed her beat up orange Jansport backpack from the back of her trunk, pulling out a pack of cigarettes and lighter from inside, and then swung the bag carelessly over her right shoulder. She lit up a cigarette with her yellow lighter, which had a biohazard symbol plastered on it, and took a few drags, bending her head back and blowing smoke up in the air.

"You ready to go, sweetie? We're going to be late," Tanya said, pulling me out of my daze.

"Oh…yeah," I fumbled. I slung an arm around her and continued to walk with her towards the building.

Looking over my shoulder, I noticed the dark haired beauty was looking directly at me. Never taking her eyes off mine, she took one last drag of her cigarette, and tossed it on the gravel in front of her, stepping on it with the ball of her shoe. She then turned away quickly and disappeared into some bushes nearby.

I turned my attention back to the front of me as we walked into the building, and realized that Alice and Tanya were talking.

"She's so odd…" Alice commented. "I wonder if she'll ever stop being weird."

"That's not nice, Alice," Tanya chastised as she reached for her locker and opened it. "Maybe she's just misunderstood."

Alice opened her own locker next to hers. "Well…I heard that Bella Swan meets with her drug dealer in those woods every morning. That's why she always skips the first couple of periods."

Bella Swan…

Every guy's wet dream, every girl's nightmare.

Bella was one of those girls that just didn't care what everyone else thought. She did what she wanted, when she wanted, and if people didn't like that, it didn't faze her.

I hadn't actually spoken to her in years. Back in our freshman year, we had a lot of classes together and spoke casually, but by the end of the second semester, she began to change slowly. She was this mousy, shy girl, who suddenly began lashing out and skipping classes. When sophomore year started, she didn't even show up until the end of the first semester, and even then, she would continue to skip classes and rebel against the teachers.

She'd already been suspended a couple times for smoking in various parts of the school grounds when she should've been in class. She also refused to do most of her assignments issued to her. I was pretty sure she was failing, which I couldn't understand. I just didn't comprehend how someone would allow themselves to fail. I'd chastise myself even if I received a ninety-eight percent on a test! Which was never…

Aside from all this, many guys in school still sought after her. In the men's locker room during gym, I'd constantly hear about crazy stories involving guys and her, saying how they'd had sex with her under the bleachers, or that so-and-so had a foursome with her and two cheerleaders.

As the years went on, and she became more reclusive, the rumors that constantly floated around about her became more and more salacious. I tried not to listen to them, but sometimes, I couldn't help myself. It wasn't as if I had a crush on her or anything, like most of the guys in school, but I certainly did notice her. She had an unmistakable air of confidence about her that was refreshing, yet she never sought out any attention. If anything, she was intriguing because she was so mysterious.

It was no lie that many girls hated her. Either they felt threatened by her unwanted popularity, or they couldn't understand her. The funny part was a lot of them would wear the same shade of blue eye shadow as her. She had definitely started a trend with that.

"Are we talking about Bella Swan?" Emmett asked, joining us at the lockers with Rosalie on his arm.

"Why?" Rose questioned snippily. "Do you like her like every other goddamn guy in this school?"

Emmett leaned down and kissed Rose's forehead. "You know you're the only girl that's my type."

Nice save.

Rose smiled cockily.

Rosalie was extremely vain. She was considered one of the most popular girls in school and she knew it. Of course she was beautiful, but she was also extremely smart. She was acing all of her classes and involved herself heavily in school activities; she was on the debate team, a student council member, and joined just about every committee she could get her hands on.

Alice and Tanya also joined Rose in her quest to dominate the school, only Alice did it because she wanted to get to know people and be active. Tanya did it simply so it would look good on her high school transcripts going into college, since she was following me to Yale to become a doctor as well.

I really admired Tanya for being so dedicated.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when Tanya suddenly leaned up and kissed my cheek. "What are you thinking about?" she asked with a smile.

I pushed the hair out of her face and caressed her cheek. "Oh…just you, of course."

She winked at me and pulled on my hand. "We should get to class; I heard there's going to be a pop quiz in AP Chem."

The morning passed quickly, and soon, it was time to go to lunch. I was one of the first people to arrive in the cafeteria, so I quickly grabbed a tray and got whatever food I wanted. I made sure to pick out a granola bar for Tanya, since it was her favorite.

Making my way down the selection of food, I heard a loud gasp.

"Young lady, I saw that! You have to pay for that!"

I turned my head to see the woman, who usually sat at the lunch line check out, huffing and throwing her hands up in the air. Then, I saw who she was yelling at, and I froze, wanting to see what was going to happen.

Bella Swan spun around to face the woman, her blood red mouth set in a hard, thin line. She took an apple out of her backpack and held it up, casting the woman a snide look. "Whatever. How much?" she asked as if it was a nuisance.

"It's one-fifty," the woman stated.

"One-fifty? For a shitty apple?" Bella yelled. She set the apple on top of the cash register. "No thank you." She turned on her heel and began to walk away.

I walked over to where she had left the apple. "Wait!" I called out to her.

She turned around and glared at me. Her expression remained hard as she analyzed my actions. I grabbed the apple and put it on my tray, then quickly paid for everything.

"Here," I said, holding the apple out to her.

She eyed my hand for a few moments, looking as if it was poisonous or something. I lifted my eyebrow and held it closer to her. Her eyes snapped up to mine and she quickly grabbed the apple, then stalked over to a trash can and threw it in. Without looking back at me, she tossed her bag on a nearby empty table, and sat down.

My mouth fell open slightly. I had paid for her damn apple, only for her to throw it away without so much as a thanks. I huffed and found the furthest empty table away from her.

Last time I ever try to do something nice for her.

What was her problem, anyway? Why did she try to steal the apple, only to throw it away when I offered it to her? For free!

Before I could get any more worked up about it, the beautiful girl I'd been dying to see entered the cafeteria.

"Tanya!" I called out anxiously, and waved my hand in the air so she knew where I was.

"Hey, honey. I'm just going to go get some food," she said, placing her bag down.

I held up the granola bar. "I already got your usual."

She laughed lightly. "That's sweet of you, but I'm actually a bit more hungry today. I'll be back." And with that, she disappeared into the now growing lunch line.

Alice, Jasper, Rose, and Emmett suddenly came in and located me. They pulled chairs up to the table and sat down without getting any food.

"You guys aren't eating?" I asked.

"We skipped last period and went to IHop," Emmett said casually.

I furrowed my brow. "You skipped?" I asked incredulously. "Wait…why wasn't I invited?"

Rosalie laughed. "Like you'd ever skip class, Mr. Perfect Attendance."

That was true. I would've probably turned them down so that I didn't ruin my attendance, but I still would have liked to have been invited. I didn't reply, but merely shrugged and began eating.

The cafeteria suddenly became a bit more quiet. I noticed people looking in the direction of the cafeteria entrance, but Emmett was blocking my view. I moved my chair an inch to the left and saw six dark, large guys making their way into the cafeteria.

"Looks like the La Push guys decided to show for once," Jasper noted.

They walked over to where Bella was sitting by herself, and grabbed some chairs. One of the guys couldn't locate a seat nearby, so he lifted a chair that a small freshman boy was sitting on.

"Hey!" the little boy squeaked, then cowered away when he saw who exactly was stealing his chair.

The La Push guys were feared around the school. Since they were all from La Push, they felt entitled to represent it by only sticking with each other. The exception to that rule, for some reason, was Bella Swan. No one knew exactly why, but they took it upon themselves to guard her…and she actually let them, especially Jacob Black, who constantly followed her around. Bella seemed fairly independent, which surprised me whenever she'd let Black hang out with her.

I watched as Black slung his around arm around Bella's shoulder. She didn't even acknowledge him as she stared out the window of the cafeteria as if in a daydream.

Most people thought they were dating, but then again, no one had ever seen them kiss or anything, so it was hard to tell.

My eyes suddenly locked with Black's. He gave me a death glare and nudged his head to the left. I looked to see what he was trying to make me look at. Tanya was coming back with a tray full of food. I turned back to Black and he narrowed his eyes as if to say "pay attention to your girl, not mine" and then spoke something to Bella in her ear.

"Sorry that took so long. The line was huge," Tanya said, sitting down next to me.

I brought her chair closer to mine and slung my arm around her shoulder, mocking Black. I wasn't afraid of him.

"You okay?" Tanya asked me, looking worried.

"Mhm," I hummed, and continued to eat.

"Oh, Ed," Jasper said, getting my attention. "Your mom and dad told me to tell you they won't be home for dinner. So, it looks like we have the place to ourselves."

Even though Jasper was my cousin, my aunt and uncle were out of the country for the year on business, so he decided to stay with us until he went off to college. It was nice having someone else my age in the house as I had no brothers or sisters.

"Cool," I said. "We can watch some movies or something after I finish my homework."

"Alice is coming over, actually. So…"

Alice sheepishly looked over at me and smiled.

Since they'd started dating, I hardly got to hang out with Jasper, which upset me, but I knew once the novelty of the new relationship ended, we'd find time to hang out together.

"Sure, okay." I turned to Tanya. "You want to come over, too?"

She took a bite of her salad. "I have a tennis lesson, but rain check?"

I pouted and shrugged.

The rest of lunch passed by quickly, and soon it was time to go. As I gathered my stuff, I noticed the La Push guys exit the building through the back door of the lunch room and to the lot, while Bella walked into the hallway.

"So, I'll see you later?" Tanya asked me, picking up her bag.

"Yeah," I said, and pecked her on the lips lightly before we all parted ways.

After my next class, I realized I didn't have my Invisible Man book with me. Figuring I left it in the car, I quickly ran out to the lot, trying to hurry so I could make it to class on time.

As I opened my car door, I saw a puff of smoke fly up into the air nearby. I looked to see Bella leaning up against her truck, staring out into the street, her backpack thrown on the hood of the car.

I tried to ignore her as I rummaged in my car for my book, but the smell of the tobacco was making me feel nauseous. I couldn't understand how anyone could smoke that crap and allow themselves to ruin their lungs.

Finally locating my book, I shut the door. When I turned around to leave, I noticed Bella staring directly at me, the underside of her foot now pressed up against the front bumper of the car.

Even though I told myself I wouldn't be nice to her again, I decided this last time couldn't hurt. "You know," I called out to her as I walked closer, "you really should put that out. A teacher might see you."

It was good advice, right? After all, did she really need to be suspended again?

She continued to stare at me with a blank expression. She brought up the cigarette to her lips and took another long drag, then blew the smoke in my face.

I coughed and sputtered, waving a hand in front of me to quickly diminish the smoke and smell. "Whatever. Sorry for even bothering. I can see you could care less," I spat, and stalked away from her. Before I got to the walkway, I spun around. "Oh, and you're welcome for the apple earlier." Turning away, I walked onto the walkway.

"Hey!" I heard shouted from behind me, which caused me to turn back around.

Bella began to walk over to me, her left fist clenched tightly and her cigarette now on the floor. Stopping a foot away from me, she brought up her fist and threw something shiny at me, which I barely caught.

"It's all I got. Consider this an I.O.U," she rasped out harshly, and stalked off into the bushes.

I stared after her, completely baffled, and looked to see a single quarter in the palm of my hand, which was warm from her holding it before. Placing it in my pocket, I walked silently back inside the school.

A/N:

Hope you enjoyed this Bella. She's very much OOC. This story will be told from only EPOV.

If you liked it, please review.